Folding umbrella.



PATENTED MAY 30, A1905.

W. S. CONNELL. FOLDING UMBRELLA.

APPLICATION Hum MAR. 28,1904'.

* PATBNTED MAY so, 1905. W. s. GONNBLL. 'FOLDING UMBRBLLA. APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 28,1904.

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INVENTO? Wllz'L//LD CR/@ell A TTUHNE YS Q'llllll UNITED STATES Patented 'May 30, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SYLVESTER OONNELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING UMBRELLA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 791,250, dated May 30, 1905. Application filed March 28, 1904. Serial No. 200,407.

yFolding Umbrella, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a folding umbrella, parasol, or similardevice.

The principal object of my invention is td `secure a construction of umbrella or the like which will permit it to be folded up into such small -compass as to be easily placed in the pocket.

Further objects of my invention will appear in the course of the subjoined description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view showing the parts in4 their folded position. Fig. f2' is a central longitudinal sectional view showingv the parts when partly unfolded, the ribs being straightened out ready to be raised. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same, showing the parts in longitudinal section, the stick being entirely unfolded and the ribs ready to be raised. Fig. 4 is a sectionalview of one of the runners. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line 6 6 of Fig. l. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7 7 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 8 is a sectional View on the line 8 8 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 11 represents a cup-shaped handle which I prefer to employ, and 12, 13, and 14 are three telescoping sections forming the stick of the umbrella. The intermediate one of these sections 13 is provided with an internal screw 15, extending the whole length thereof and secured thereto by means of a circumferential groove 16. The lower end 17 of this section 13 is externally screw-threaded for the purpose of threading into internal screw-threads formed on the section 12. The top section or tip 14 is provided with an internal nut 18, which meshes with the screwthreaded rod 15 above mentioned.

19 is a ferrule applied to the extreme upper end of the top 14, and 2O is a spring-catch secured to the lower end of the intermediate section 13 and adapted when the umbrella is in closed position to assume the position shown in Fig. 1 and hold the parts rigidly in place.

In the construction so far described it will be seen that upon moving the catch 20 out of engagement with the bottom of the handle 11, so that it can pass through the opening 21, and pulling in opposite directions upon the handle 11 and tip 14 or ferrule 19, the first effect will be to pull the tip 14 and the section 12 apart. The movement of either of these parts will cause the screw 15 to be rotated on account of the screw -threads described. The rotation of the screw 15 with respect to either section 12 or 14 will cause a proportionate relative movement between it and the other of these two parts, and the result of any force pulling the two sections 12 and 14 apart will therefore be to cause all Vthree parts to move simultaneously and proportionately with respect to each other, the intermediate part rotating and the other two parts not having any rotary movement. The pitches of the screws employed should be the same in order to give not only proportional movement, but equal movement; but this is not absolutely necessary. If the screw-threads were omitted, the parts upon being pulled away from each other might operate in the wrong order, thus making it possible to injure some of the elements by this operation.

22 is a perforation or depression in the section 12 for the reception of the catch 20, the construction being such as to hold the parts in their extended position in the manner\9o shown in Fig. 3.

23 is the notch of the umbrella, and at 24 the ribs 25 are pivoted to this crown all around the under side thereof. The ribsare composed of two parts, the part 25 mentioned and a part 26, pivoted to the end of the main part 25 at 27.

28 is a rod pivoted to an end 29 of the ribv part 26. This end 29 extends beyond the pivot 27, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that when the rod 28 is pulled upwardly with respect to the rib the part 26 will be swung downwardly around its pivot to the position shown in Fig. 2.

30 is a bend in the rod 28, constituting a catch for the sleeve 33, which may extend through an opening 31 in the rib 25, if found necessary. The stretchers are represented by 32. Each of these spreaders is pivoted to a sleeve 33, which incloses a rib 25 and rod 28 and is adapted to slide lengthwise along the rib 25.

The umbrella is provided with two runners 34 and 35. The rods 28 are pivoted to the runner 34 at the points 36, and the stretchers 32 are pivoted to the runner 35 at the points 37. The runner 35 is provided with a pair of spring-catches 38 and 39 and with a device for operating them comprising a ring 40, having a pair of inwardly-extending arms 41, which partly encircle the spring-catches and operate them when the ring 40 is raised or lowered on the runner. The two catches are placed in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when the ring is moved one catch is released into operative position and the other withdrawn from operative position.

42 is a perforation in the section 12, which is adapted to receive the catch 39, for a purpose to be described. l

43 is a catch on the runner 34, which is adapted to pass into a slit 44 in the top of the section 13 and is also adapted to pass into an opening 45 in the section 14, as will be described later.

46 is a spring-catch secured to the crownpiece 23 and is adapted to engage with an opening 47 in the runner 34, and it also has a projection 48 adapted to engage with a projection on the slide 49 upon the runner 34.

50 is an opening or perforation in the tip 14, with which the extreme end of the catch 46 is also adapted to engage, as shown in Fig. 3.

The operation of the device is as follows: Beginning with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, the stick is expanded in the manner described by a direct pull upon the opposite ends. It will be seen, however, that the first part of the operation will raise the runner 35 until the catch 39 engages with the opening 42, when further motion of the runner with respect to the section 12 will cease. By this time, however, the ends 29 of the ribs will be free from the upturned portion of the handle 11, and the motion of the rod 28, caused by the motion of the slide 49, will pull the ribs out into the position shown in Fig. 2, and all the parts will now be in the position shown in .that ligure. Further outward motion of the sections of the stick with respect to each other will have no effect upon the ribs except to draw the sleeve 33 downwardly with respect to the rib 25 until the bend 30 in the rod 28 engages with an opening (not shown) in the sleeve 33 and projects through it, as shown in Fig. 3. The initial motion of the tip 14 will be to slide thro ugh the notch 23 until the perforation 45 comes opposite to the catch 43, when this catch will engage the opening, and the motion of the tip after that point is reached will cause the slide 49 to move up, carrying the rod 28 to open the ribs. When the slide 49 contacts with the catch 46, the crown 23 is released from the stick 13 and moves outward. When the parts have reached their outermost position, the catch 2O will engage in the opening 22, as shown in Fig. 3, and the catch 46 will engage with the opening 50, and also the end 48 of the catch will engage with the ring 49, thus securely holding the parts in extended position. In order to raise the umbrella, the ring 40 must be slipped upwardly upon the runner 35, which will pull the spring 39 out of engagement with the perforation 42 and permit the spring 38 to bc forced inwardly in order to engage with the bottom of the slit 44 in the top of the rod 13, when the parts reach the necessary position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The upward motion of the runner 35 will obviously cause the stretchers 32 to act on the sleeves 33, which are held by the bend or catch 30, and move the ribs outwardly into a stretched or extended position. The slide 35 moves upon the section 12 with a loose fit; but when it reaches a point where it must move over the section 13, which is necessarily smaller than the section 12, means have to be provided for guiding it with respect to this section and also for keeping it in a concentric position with the section. For this purpose I have provided springs 51, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. They are preferably bent in the forms shown in order to bear upon the rod 13 at two points, and they are provided with reversely-bent ends 52 to cause the runner to easily descend over the end of the section 12 when withdrawn.

In order to close the umbrella, the reverse operation is employed, which will be obvious. The ring 40 is first lowered to change the position of the springs 38 and 39, and this can be done in one pull with that required to lower the runner on the stick. When the runner reaches the position shown in Fig. 2, the ribs will still be in straightened relation, although drawn toward the handle. Further downward motion of the runner will double the ribs up in the position shown in Fig. l; but meantime the sections of the stick should be telescoped together, which can be done by disengaging the catch 2O from the hole 22. This will permit the parts to telescope together and the ribs to be brought to their innermost position, as shown in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Paten tw IOO lIO

1. An umbrella having a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of sections, one of said sections being hollow and having an eX- ternal screw-thread and a screw-threaded rod extending through it, said rod being rotatably mounted on said hollow section, a tip-section having a nut engaging with said screwthreaded rod, and a butt-section having internal screw-threads engaging with the external threads on said first-mentioned section.

2. An umbrella having a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of sections, means for giving simultaneous and equal longitudinal movement to said sections, and a spring-catch on the end of the intermediate one of said sections.

3. A folding umbrella comprising a notch, a rib pivoted thereto, said rib being composed of a plurality of parts pivoted together, and a resilient rod for swinging one of said parts on its pivot with respect to another said rod being located in substantially a parallel relation with said rib.

4t. The combination of a notch, a rib pivoted thereto, said rib being composed of a plurality of parts pivoted together, a resilient rod attached to one 'of said parts, and means for moving said rod to swing one of said parts on its pivot.

5. The combination of a notch, a rib pivoted thereto, said rib being composed of a plurality of parts pivoted together, and a sleeve on said rib, said rib being bent to form a catch forattaching said sleeve to said rib.

6. The combination of a notch, a set of ribs pivoted thereto, each of said ribs being composed of a plurality of parts pivoted together, a sleeve for each of said ribs, a stretcher pivotally attached to each of said sleeves, and a runner.

7. An umbrella, comprising a stick, a runner having a stretcher attached thereto, and guide-springs attached to said runner at points near their centers, said guide-springs each having two points in contact with the stick, one being located at one end of each spring and the other end being turned away from the stick.

8. An umbrella having a stick provided with openings, a runner having lopenings a notch, and a catch attached to said notch and adapted to engage with said openings on the stick and on the runner.

9. A folding umbrella having a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of parts, means for giving simultaneous and proportional longitudinal movement to said parts with respect to each other, a notch mounted on one of said parts, a rib pivoted to said notch, said rib being composed of a plurality of parts pivoted together, a resilient rod attached to one of said parts of the rib, and means for moving said rod to swing one of said parts of the rib on its pivot.

10. A folding umbrella having a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of parts, means for giving simultaneous and proportional longitudinal movement to said parts with respect to each other, a runner having a rib-stretcher attached thereto, and guide-springs in said runner having oppositely-turned ends.

11. A folding umbrella comprising a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of parts, a guide for causing said parts to move proportionally and simultaneously with respect to each other, a plurality of movable runners on said stick, and catches on said runners adapted to engage with said stick.

12. A folding umbrella, comprising a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of parts having openings, a guide for causing said parts to move proportionally and simultaneously with respect to each other, a runner having openings, a notch on said stick, and a catch attached to said notch and adapted to engage said openings on the stick and on the runner.

13. A folding umbrella comprising a telescoping stick composed of three sections, one of said sections having screw-threaded engagement with both of the others, a notch on said stick, a rib pivoted to said notch, said rib being composed of a plurality of parts pivoted together, and a resilient rod for swinging one of said parts on its pivot with respect to the other, said rod being located in substantially parallel relation with said rib.

111. A folding umbrella, comprising a telescoping stick composed of three sections, one of said sections having screw-threaded engagement with both of the others, a runner on said stick having a rib stretcher attached thereto, and a plurality of guide-springs in said runner.

15. A folding umbrella comprising a telescoping stick composed of a plurality of sections, said sections having screw-threaded engagement with each other throughout their length,a plurality of movable runners on said stick, and means on said runners for engaging the stick .to temporarily secure the runners thereto, one of said runners having a plurality of such means.

16. A folding umbrella comprising a telescoping stick composed of three sections, one of said sections having screw-threaded engagement with both of the others, said stick being provided with openings, a runner having openings, a notch, a catch attached to said notch and adapted to engage with said openings upon the stick and runner.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM SYIESTER CONNELIJ.

Witnesses:

THos. F. MCLAUGHLIN, FRANK H. LEARY.

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